Phillips 66 settles lawsuit with Utah for $2 million

Utah has received $2 million as part of a settlement agreement with Phillips 66 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the state alleging that the oil company unlawfully received a number of payments from Utah’s Petroleum Storage Tank Fund.

Utah has received $2 million as part of a settlement agreement with Phillips 66 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the state alleging that the oil company unlawfully received a number of payments from Utah’s Petroleum Storage Tank Fund.

SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah has reached an agreement with another oil company regarding payments made from the state's underground storage tank fund.

The Division of Environmental Response and Remediation announced Thursday that the state has received $2 million as part of a settlement agreement with Phillips 66 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the state alleging that the global oil conglomerate unlawfully received numerous payments from Utah’s Petroleum Storage Tank Fund managed by the division.

The settlement marks the second agreement reached between the state and oil companies that received disbursements from the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund — a pool of money used to cover the cost of cleaning up petroleum released from underground storage tanks at stations that participate in the fund. State officials had asserted in the lawsuit that predecessors of Phillips 66 had insurance to cover the cleanups, which they failed to declare.

In 2012, the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed claims on behalf of the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation in 3rd District Court against ConocoPhillips, as well as BP Amoco, for similar allegations. Last year, the state reached a settlement with Chevron, recouping $1.8 million from the company.

The fund was created by the Utah Legislature in 1989 to help gas station owners and operators meet the federal financial assurance requirements for underground storage tanks. The state is now seeking reimbursement of the fund for moneys that it asserts the oil companies were ineligible to receive.

“We are satisfied with how this has been resolved with Phillips 66,” division director Brent Everett said in a prepared statement.